A unit of EXCO Resources, Inc. (NYSE:XCO) will pay about $1 billion to Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK), one of the top natural gas producers in the U.S., for highly prospective acreage in Texas and Louisana, Chesapeake said Wednesday.

The deal will push year-to-date asset sales for the Oklahoma City, Okla., company to about $3.6 billion. Combined with forecasted net operating cash flow, receipts from the sales will enable Chesapeake to fully fund its 2013 capital expenditure budget, the company said. Additional asset sales contemplated for later this year may reduce long-term debt, it said.

EXCO Operating Company LP is getting about 55,000 net acres in the Northern Eagle Ford Shale of Texas' Zavala, Dimmit, La Salle and Frio counties, including about 120 producing wells with an average daily production of 6,100 barrels of oil equivalent per day. EXCO also is getting about 9,600 net acres in Louisiana's Desoto and Caddo parishes, site of the natural gas-rich Haynesville Shale.

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